The Light's On, But Nobody's Home

For years light bulbs, incandescent and fluorescent, did not last long in my house. It turns out the power line leading to the house was shorting in a tree which caused power fluctuations (or starvation). Luckily the tree didn't catch on fire and the short was before the meter so I wasn't subsidizing arboreal shock treatments.

This is all leading to a dull event.

I have a vanity fixture in my bathroom, one of those bars of five 40 watt bulbs, which went through bulbs at a terrific rate. The further to the right, the shorter the bulb life. It's been on the same two bulbs since the power line was fixed about six months ago. Somehow it became a milestone of sorts. Once the bulbs were replaced I'd start another limited cleaning and junk purging around the house. I bought new bulbs on New Year's day.

On Tuesday I took out the dead bulbs, dropping last one. It landed in the sink with a muffled pop. There were a few big pieces of glass, but it was mostly sand grain sized shards. Great. I left it there until the next day. I was running late for work and I wanted to let it dry, so I could sweep out the broken glass without it sticking to everything. It still surprises me the bulk of the bulb broke into such tiny pieces. The new bulbs went in last night after sweeping out the sink. Now, will I really have a cleaning fit this week? Will the new light bulbs and the New Year's resolution propel my ass into activity or procrastination?

The moral of the story? I don't know. Check your power lines if light bulbs and electronics seem to be dying too often? Scott's a dim bulb?